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Hello, Summer! :)

Quick Pics

Yesterday I posted about my difficulties in trying to balance my new school schedule, this blog, and everything else and how I was disappointed that I probably won't be able to blog as often...at least until I get adjusted to some sort of new schedule. I received so many encouraging comments from you all and it really made me feel a little better. :) Thank you all so much for being so understanding and supportive. It's one of the many reasons I love being a part of this amazing community. Everyone is always so positive and supportive of each other. No one is ever competitive or nasty...at least no one I've ever encountered yet. I'd say that over three years of experiencing no negativity within this community is pretty outstanding and impressive. You are all such amazing people and I'm happy to be able to be connected to you all in this little corner of the Interwebz. :)

[Chicken Cheesy Rice Skillet dinner...with broccoli and bacon added in!]

[I just had to relive this again]

The weather has been completely unpredictable this month. It says it's going to rain and thunder, but then it ends up being sunny. It says it's going to be nice out, but then it rains. It's 53 degrees one day and then a few days later it's 85 degrees. I'm not sure what season we're in anymore. Is spring over? Is summer early?! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. But I can't really complain because I am finally bare-legged, you guys. :') It only took until Memorial Day.

[My iPod can't handle the weather either.]

[From before my nautical shoot!]

This past month was a pretty busy one! It's finally fire season, so I've been to a few good fires with friends. And as it has always been predicted, May was indeed brought flowers...and pretty ones, too!

[My front yard]

Every May my mom gets two special days because not only is Mother's Day this month, but so is her birthday! There have even been times when they're on the same day! And on top of all that, my niece was born on my mom's birthday, so we also celebrated her first birthday this year. It's weird because my nephew stole my birthday and my niece stole my mom's. Little thieves! I made my mom a cake for her birthday and decided to decorate it with some pretty spring colors. I used the same recipe that I used for my BMO cake and I actually made the A out of a homemade stencil made of wax paper!

[Tasty mimosa at Mother's Day brunch]

I've been spending more time with my cousin Ashley lately, which is nice. We've been close since we were around 10. We are so much alike and we always laugh a lot when we hang out. I'm really glad that we see each other a lot more now. She used to live about a half hour away, so we rarely hung out once we got a little older. She also lived in North Carolina for a little while too, that lucky duck. But she recently moved to an apartment in the next town over, so now we see each other a lot more and it's awesome! And because of us spending more time together, I've gotten to meet new people and I get to spend time with all of my close friends at once more often since we often have get togethers at Ashley's place.

[Ashley and I!]

And yes, I did attend New Found Glory's Stick and Stones 10 Year Anniversary tour. My friend Jeanna and I went and had a blast partying like it was 2003 again. It felt good to relive a bit of my teenage years again...haha. I'm a firm believer that music should never be outgrown. It should always be cherished and held dear as a part of who you are through the various stages of growing up. I still jam out to Spice Girls and N'Sync like it's my job.

I once read a story in either middle school or high school about a girl who was celebrating her birthday. I don't remember exactly what happened plot-wise, but the idea behind it was that each year you grow another year older, but that you are still all of the previous ages as well. So no matter how old you are, you still keep parts of every age you were. I like that idea. Embrace your inner child. Despite what some people might say, there's never really anything that you're too old to enjoy.

Back To School, Ring The Bell

So you know how I was talking about how school can get stressful? Yeah...it's been getting stressful. It's not the work is particularly hard or that I have a heavy course load. It's just simply trying to balance and stretch my time out among many things. And as much as I want to keep blogging three or four times a week, I'm starting to see that it may start to only be twice a week.

I know it's not the end of the world, but it's upsetting because this blog is really important to me and I really enjoy doing it. I wish I could just blog full time and make a living with it somehow! But as important as it is to me, school is obviously still more important. So fair warning...my posts may become less frequent and consistent for a while. At least until I figure out a good balance. I'll be working less hours starting next week so that'll hopefully help!

Dress: H&M//Sweater: H&M//Tights: Simply Vera by Vera Wang//Shoes: Clarks//Bag: Forever 21

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend! I spent it with friends and family, and I also got to catch up on a lot of sleep, which was awesome. :)

By the way...Chloe at Lazy Explorers is currently hosting a Switch to Bloglovin giveaway where you could win a free swap spot on Swing The Day Away for a whole month! Head on over to Lazy Explorers to enter the giveaway!

Grad Student

For someone who claims to not be a huge fan of the color green, I feel like I've been wearing a lot of green lately. It's not all shades of green that I hate, it's mostly kelly green, neon green, and the like. I love deep, foresty greens and pale greens. Chartreuse is a weird shade that I actually don't mind. It always makes for an interesting color mix.

So this week is the first week of classes for grad school! I'm officially a graduate student, taking classes and having homework assignments again. It's a weird feeling to have readings and assignments again. I've been out of school for two years now, so to be back in feels a little weird, but also familiar and refreshing.

I've always been good at school. I was always a good student and secretly enjoyed writing essays and whatnot. I definitely did not like most of the sciences and math, as much though. The only math I liked was basic algebra and trigonometry. I wasn't a fan of biology (especially when we had to dissect things...ick!) or physics, but I liked chemistry and I also love things like astronomy. Anyway...being back in school is sort of like reuniting with an old friend who you had a love/hate relationship with. It's familiar and exciting, but you know that there's probably going to be those moments that are going to stress you out and drive you crazy.

Dress: Coincidence & Chance via Urban Outfitter//Cardigan: Mossimo via Target//Tights: Unknown//Shoes: GoMax via Modcloth//Scarf: Thrifted//Belt: Forever 21

I'm already feeling a little like I don't have time for everything and it's only the first week. Work, running this blog, social life, school, family. It can get to be a lot! Because I've started school, I am cutting my hours back at work a bit, so that should alleviate some of the panicked and overwhelmed feelings I get. As upbeat and silly as I am, there are still moments where I feel like bursting into tears because I'm feeling anxious or stressed or whatever. But that's part of being human. Not everything will be easy, but usually the things that aren't are worth the trouble in the end somehow.

Among The Flowers

Later in the season, this park is supposed to be filled with roses, with rose covered arches over the walkway up to this wonderful leafy gazebo. Unfortunately, it was too early for the roses to have bloomed, so I didn't get to see them. :\ On top of that, I thought the tulips would still be thriving, but they were all pretty much dead. Despite all that, there was still the awesome gazebo and other pretty flowers to look at.

I'm sure next month this park will really be full of floral goodness in all different colors. They have a couple of different gardens for perennials, annuals, roses, etc. There's another park I'd like to go to that has about seven different flower gardens. Maybe I'll try that one in a couple of weeks.

Dress: Moon Collection//Jacket: Gap (thrifted)//Tights: Simply Vera by Vera Wang//Shoes: Liz Claiborne

Whenever I have my own home, I'd like it to have a lot of land. I want to plant flowers, fruits, and vegetables and always have fresh produce to eat. I'm sure it's probably a lot of work and it'll take some practice to get things right, but I think it'd be worth it. Going fruit picking is one of my favorite things to do in the world. There's really nothing like eating fruit fresh from the tree, bush, or wherever it may grow. This season I'd like to find some farms that let you pick your own veggies and try some fresh vegetables. I also want to pick fruits that I've never picked before like cherries and plums.

I'd also like to visit some vineyards this summer. I've never been to one, but they always look so pretty. I'm not much of a wine drinker (there's only one that I've tried that I actually really liked), but I'm always up to taste new things in hopes that I may find something delicious!